Glasgow coffee lovers have a new hangout in the form of Thomson's Central in The Arches. Pict by Stewart Attwood.
Glasgow coffee lovers have a lot to smile about at the moment.
First up, Thomson's Central - a roastery, café bakery and training centre - has just launched in the Argyle Street Arches.
Secondly, over the weekend of Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th May, the Glasgow Coffee Festival will take place for the fourth time.
Established in 1841, Thomson’s Coffee Roasters is an independently owned Scottish family business.
Their first shop opened on St Vincent Street. Some 170-odd years later, their Arches venture is serving a range of speciality coffees, drinks and freshly cooked food in its new café area.
It also aims to be a gold-standard training hub for would-be baristas across the country. You can make your own gag about beard-grooming lessons.
The open plan roastery, bakery and 58-seater café will serve pizzas and breads freshly cooked in the in-house bakery. The café will be open Tuesday to Friday from 8am to catch the morning commuters.
There is late opening on Thursdays with Thomson's Central serving food and a wealth of Scottish craft drinks late into the evenings.
Taking centre stage inside the purpose-built space is the new state-of-the-art Loring Kestrel S35 Smart Roaster.
Apparently, it is the only coffee roaster of its kind and size in Scotland and it has been described as ‘reinventing’ the way beans can be roasted.
Thomson's at The Arches uses a Loring Kestrel S35 Smart Roaster. Pic by Stewart Attwood.
Glasgow coffee lovers have their own festival
Glasgow coffee lovers can also get their grind on at the fourth Glasgow Coffee Festival 2018.
Running in The Briggait on the 19th and 20th May, the event is shunning disposable coffee cups in order to tackle landfill waste.
Organised by the Dear Green Coffee Roasters, the sell-out festival is asking ticket holders to bring their own reusable cup.
KeepCup will be on hand at the festival to loan reusable cups to anyone who needs to borrow one for the day.
Event organiser, and founder of Dear Green Coffee Roasters, Lisa Lawson says, 'Everything we do is from an ethical stance, and we felt like it was time for Glasgow Coffee Festival to partner with KeepCup to lead the way with reusable cups.'
Glasgow Coffee Festival is a two-day event celebrating speciality coffee. The event hosts exhibitors from across the UK. As well as serving more types of coffee than you can shake a frother at, there will be food, master classes, workshops, presentations and demonstrations.
A highlight will be the UK Brewers Cup final by the Speciality Coffee Association. Baristas from around the UK will have seven minutes to brew three coffees for the judging panel. The idea behind the UK Brewers Cup is to showcase the art of hand-brewed filter coffee.
Lisa adds, 'It’s awesome to see the growth in appreciation and understanding of speciality coffee in Scotland. Every year the event has sold out so we’re expecting 2018 to be the best year yet. The festival is a great way to celebrate and recognise the speciality coffee community by bringing everyone together for the weekend.'
All event proceeds go to support charitable causes World Coffee Research and Glasgow City Mission.
Tickets are now on sale from EventBrite. Kids under 12 go free with a paying adult.
Runs 10am-6pm, Saturday 19 + Sunday 20 May 2018.
Glasgow Coffee lovers can find their favourite cup of Joe at Glasgow coffee festival in The Briggait.